Rio injury worry for United

Rio Ferdinand has given Sir Alex Ferguson another defensive headache after leaving the Riverside with his foot in a protective cover following Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough.

US can not afford to lose time for Ferdinand with fellow centre-back Nemanja Vidic out for three weeks and some crucial matches ahead in the Premier League and the Champions League.


The draw with Boro saw United just three points ahead of Chelsea, and they face Arsenal next weekend before going to Stamford Bridge on 26 April.

Ferdinand limped off during the match and left the stadium with his foot in a plastic casing, as a precautionary measure.

Ferguson said: "We hope that it is not serious in Rio, but he was limping for too long.

"The danger was to keep practising with him when he was limping, he was not playing to its full level of performance."

It seems unlikely that Ferdinand will play in the Champions League second leg against Roma, especially with Gerard Pique impressive Ferguson replacing the England defender.

"Pique came on and did absolutely brilliant, it was absolutely wonderful, and I think that really helped us," said Ferguson.

United had taken the lead at a frigid courtesy of Riverside Cristiano Ronaldo's 37th goal of the season, but two goals from Brazilian striker Afonso Alves put Boro ahead.

It has been left at the end of Wayne Rooney deflected effort to ensure a share of the spoils - and Ferguson admitted United had flirted with defeat.

He added: "We could have lost the game there is no doubt they have some chances and the defence of our time was somewhat haphazard, I think.

"But at other times, we could have won the game because some of the quality of our football was fantastic.

"At 1-0 we looked very strong and controlled the match and Wayne Rooney was unlucky to be given offside when he was clear through - it was not out Thursday

"They changed back to the 4-4-2 formation obtained an equaliser and I thought it was a great football game after that. It was end to end and both teams deserve a lot of credit for the production of a football game like that at this time of the year.

"At times we played fantastic football but in the context of the game Middlesbrough has also produced some great moments and it was just a fantastic game."

Ferguson insisted United have shown that they will keep fighting every inch of the way for the title.

He said: "The nature of the club is that we never give in and that's a great quality to have at this time of year.(*)